You ever get that one guy...

[jkokura]

Update: got the pedal back and everything works fine! I am beyond angry now. This guy is officially fired! I am refunding his money, less the 2 unnecessary shipping costs and $50 for my pain and suffering.

Brutal. Been there. Good for you for pulling the plug.

Jacob

[TFZ]

A friend of mine who sells repaired vintage amps regularly always makes a video of him playing and demonstrating that everything works perfectly. Maybe for the true specialists one could include where to put which cable...

[thesmokingman]

Update: got the pedal back and everything works fine! I am beyond angry now. This guy is officially fired! I am refunding his money, less the 2 unnecessary shipping costs and $50 for my pain and suffering.


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I said good day, sir!

[somnif]

Update: got the pedal back and everything works fine! I am beyond angry now. This guy is officially fired! I am refunding his money, less the 2 unnecessary shipping costs and $50 for my pain and suffering.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

....was this fellow aware that pedals require a power supply? I used to do IT work occasionally, and sometimes you really do need to start at the bottom of the barrel with the questions to ask.

[jkokura]

Update: got the pedal back and everything works fine! I am beyond angry now. This guy is officially fired! I am refunding his money, less the 2 unnecessary shipping costs and $50 for my pain and suffering.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

....was this fellow aware that pedals require a power supply? I used to do IT work occasionally, and sometimes you really do need to start at the bottom of the barrel with the questions to ask.

"Hello, Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

Jacob

[Muadzin]

I am fond of using that George Carlin quote, know how stupid the average person is, and realize that half are even more stupid then that?

But on the other hand our brains are constructed in such a way that they don't see reality as it is, they construct one in our brains from our sensory input. When you look at something, you don't see reality, you see an interpretive movie that plays inside your brain. This is why there is no such thing as common sense, or why it feels so damn odd that nobody else can see what seems clear as crystal to you. Everyone's brain movie is different and you are probably just as stupid to them as they are to you. And in a way its so amazing that it actually works in such a way that most of the time most of us can agree on anything.

[Willybomb]

A friend of mine who sells repaired vintage amps regularly always makes a video of him playing and demonstrating that everything works perfectly. Maybe for the true specialists one could include where to put which cable...

I did that with all the commission builds I did, it was just part of keeping them updated.  I would always get a deposit up front, and send a demo vid when the pedal was completed and the balance was due.

[dan.schumaker]

Not to bump a necro thread here, but I have that guy right now.  This is a guy I have dealt with before, and I know he is nothing but trouble.  But a sale is a sale, and trying to get my name out there, I don't want to turn work down.  I had a big long tirade about this guy written, but decided to just delete it.  But yeah, I have that guy now, and I am kicking myself for taking more work from him...

People like that really make you think about why you are doing this.  Most of the experiences have been good, but its that one person that makes you think "whats the point?"  I know that the lingering thought of "whats the point" has been hanging around in my head for a while.  Yeah I keep pumping things out, but for what?  So I have a ton of pedals sitting around, but they are not doing any good in my music room.  I try to get a name out there, but I feel like its just landing on deaf ears.  I know I make some good and unique products, if people just gave it a chance, I want them to know the same thing.  I know that my marketing is shit (which as an engineer, marketing is a complete 180 to everything that I am), and I plan on 2021 being the year of really pushing that part of it.  But maybe I keep lying to myself working on new designs thinking that "this next one, this will be what people like", but I know that it is destined to just be another pedal on my shelf that ultimately someday will be destined to the trash or to goodwill or something.  I'm not in this to make a lot of money or to be the next JHS, Walrus, Earthquaker, Function F(X), etc., I just want to make something that will make people happy.  But if doing this is not making the person making them happy, then ultimately whats the point? 

Sorry about the rant, just dealing with one of those people that really set you off makes you question a lot of things...

[jjjimi84]

People like that really make you think about why you are doing this.  Most of the experiences have been good, but its that one person that makes you think "whats the point?"  I know that the lingering thought of "whats the point" has been hanging around in my head for a while.  Yeah I keep pumping things out, but for what?  So I have a ton of pedals sitting around, but they are not doing any good in my music room.  I try to get a name out there, but I feel like its just landing on deaf ears.  I know I make some good and unique products, if people just gave it a chance, I want them to know the same thing.  I know that my marketing is shit (which as an engineer, marketing is a complete 180 to everything that I am), and I plan on 2021 being the year of really pushing that part of it.  But maybe I keep lying to myself working on new designs thinking that "this next one, this will be what people like", but I know that it is destined to just be another pedal on my shelf that ultimately someday will be destined to the trash or to goodwill or something.  I'm not in this to make a lot of money or to be the next JHS, Walrus, Earthquaker, Function F(X), etc., I just want to make something that will make people happy.  But if doing this is not making the person making them happy, then ultimately whats the point? 

Please do not let an asshole stop you from doing anything or having you questioning why. I struggle with this daily and not just with pedals or guitars but pretty much everything. I was uncertain at first if it was just a mid life (36) crisis or a 2020 thing or what but I too have been feeling the same way. 

But then I fire up an amp I built and play a guitar I made through a Tone Bender I built and painted and then all of life's nagging little stresses go away. Try to keep your head up and if there is anything I can do to help let me know. Your builds and boards are killer and more people should know about them.

[TGP39]

Dan, 
     Your design and building skills are through the roof.  Make it a challenge to better yourself in just two areas: Marketing (you touched upon this) and aesthetics. 
I have read pedal descriptions that are so inventive it had me foaming at the mouth.  This distortion pedal was ungodly because it had a knob on it that said Krank!  I knew it was a gain knob, but I didn't care.  At that moment Krank was brilliant!  Read as many pedal descriptions as you can.  Capture the buzzwords flying around.  Look into Marketing techniques that quickly capture an audience.  Some companies have a great product, but then describe it to sound about as interesting as a wet loaf of bread.   

     It pains me to say this, but aesthetics will make a sale faster than any demo could ever attempt.  If it looks awesome, it is awesome.  The seasoned musician will usually not fall for this trick, but that is a tiny fraction of your potential market.   Experiment with different finishing techniques, different knobs, different layouts ( I once had to have this pedal where the knobs made the shape of a pentagram and had a led at each point....stupid? Yes, but damn was it effective), different color schemes, even different cool names for a gain knob.   I love building and perfecting the inside of a pedal, but those buyers aren't looking inside.  I've learned to love perfecting the outside of my pedals as well.  It truly is an art that takes practice, but you will get tons of feedback on how awesome your pedal looks.

     I want to stress that these two areas are just my opinion of what sells nowadays.  Like I said before, you are a master of design and building techniques.  I know you will quickly master other techniques as well.  Keep building.  I will always appreciate what you do because I know how skillful you have to be to pull it off.  Best of luck in 2021.
-Steve